Strange Tastes and Disgusting Smells: Experiences of German Merchants and Sailors in 16th-Century Iceland
Author(s): Natascha Mehler
Year: 2018
Summary
Each summer during the 16th century, a substantial amount of German merchants and sailors came to Iceland in need of dried fish (stockfish), sulphur and other commodities. They encountered a country, landscape, foodstuffs, customs and people very different from their homes. The experience of risky voyages, being penned on ships with (dead and live) animals, added to the profound sensory impact that came upon them. The paper tries to come towards a synthaesia of what the Germans experienced in Iceland, using primarily written evidence but also archaeological evidence. It will draw upon contemporary 16th century ethnograpic descriptions of both Icelanders and Germans and also show what role the tastes and smells of Iceland played in the process of the othering.
Cite this Record
Strange Tastes and Disgusting Smells: Experiences of German Merchants and Sailors in 16th-Century Iceland. Natascha Mehler. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2018 ( tDAR id: 441814)
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Keywords
General
Iceland
•
smellscapes
•
synaesthesia
Geographic Keywords
Germany
•
Western Europe
Temporal Keywords
Early modern
Spatial Coverage
min long: 5.865; min lat: 47.275 ; max long: 15.034; max lat: 55.057 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 517